The Charge

The Case

Designing Women was a CBS sitcom that aired from 1986 to 1993
featuring four Southern belles who ran a design studio, Sugarbaker &
Associates, in Atlanta, Georgia.

The episodes focus on the life of four women: Mary Jo Shively (Annie Potts,
Toy Story), Julia Sugarbaker (Dixie
Carter, Different Strokes), Suzanne Sugarbaker (Delta Burke, What Women Want), her beauty-queen
sister, and Charlene Stillfield (Jean Smart, Sweet Home Alabama). Anthony Bouvier
(Meshach Taylor) is added to the estrogen-laden mix as an ex-con who works for
the women delivering furniture. The Best of Designing Women is a
presentation of five episodes from the show's 7-year run.

"Pilot" Suzanne's gynecologist is retiring. This of course,
is an emergency, so Mary Jo gives her the number of one of her ex-husbands (who
happens to be a gynecologist). Suzanne, after a preliminary appointment, ends up
dating him. The new relationship leads to a rift in the women's relationship and
arguments ensue. When Suzanne announces that the two are engaged, it provides
Mary Jo a chance to tie up some loose ends with her ex. Sex jokes fly the whole
episode. **

"Killing All the Right People" Sugarbaker & Associates
are hired for the project of their careers. An old friend, Kendall, visits the
agency and asks the girls to design his funeral. Shocked at his request, the
four women ask him why he would want to plan his funeral at such a young age,
and Kendall replies that he has AIDS. He tells the women he has been on a
treatment plan, but his T-cells are low. Later that evening, Mary Jo ends up at
a PTA meeting, and is elected to rally the parents who would like to see the
local school distributing birth control (condoms) to teenagers in the district.
Mary Jo takes the position and, at the next meeting, delivers a nice speech
about preventing diseases like AIDS. ***½

"Reservations for Eight" When women plan a weekend ski trip,
an avalanche strands them and all of their beaus in the cabin. The arguments
start when they try to decide who will sleep in which rooms. The girls had
stated that the girls would stay with girls and the guys would stay with the
guys, but the men don't seem too happy about that arrangement. The weekend drags
on, and so do the arguments concerning the old "Battle of the Sexes."
Tensions run high, but a little bit of romantic music and some dancing makes up
for it pretty quickly. ***

"Big Hass and Little Falsie" Mary Jo's uncle has passed away
and left her three thousand dollars, provided she spends it on something
frivolous. The only thing that Mary Jo can think of: breast implants. Well, the
women start discussing breast size, and Julia and Charlene tell Mary Jo that it
might be nice to be as petite as she is. When Suzanne gives Mary Jo the number
for a surgeon, Mary Jo comes back with a set of falsies, so she can see what she
would like. Julia and Charlene aren't really crazy about the idea of Mary Jo
with large breasts. Mary Jo decides to try out her new falsies, so she goes out
with Julia to pick up some men. ***

"They Shoot Fat Women, Don't They?" Suzanne has put on a few
pounds and is rather sensitive about the issue, as her class reunion approaches.
Attending the reunion, Suzanne is forced to confront her weight issues when she
meets all of her old classmates. Meanwhile, Anthony has asked Julia and the
girls to participate in a charitable fast for fighting world hunger. After an
awful time of the reunion, Julia rushes over to comfort Suzanne and tells her
the only thing that matters is how she feels about herself. Anthony comes to
pick up the World Hunger checks with a little boy whose family died in an
African famine. Suzanne is given a new look at life when the boy tells her she
is beautiful. ***½

While I am not offended by sex, I really wasn't amused by five episodes of
women sitting around making crude jokes about sex. (For future reference, keep
the humor out of the gynecologist's office. Please.) The show did have some
redeeming qualities though: it did a rather nice job dealing with sensitive
women's issues like obesity, and breast size, while bringing up some pertinent
social issues as well.

The DVD transfer overall was fairy clean. The main complaints I have focus
on the noticeable set lighting, but that was only present in the first episode.
The sound wasn't anything outstanding. The soundtrack was as bland, as were most
of the sitcoms from the late '80s, with very little music. The only extras on
the DVD were trailers.

Overall, the DVD didn't really appeal to me, and I would be hard pressed to
recommend it to anyone who didn't like Designing Women. In fact, since I
wasn't familiar with this show until the DVD showed up on my doorstep, I don't
know if I would even recommend it to someone who liked the show. It comes down
to this: if you did like Designing Women to begin with, avoid this DVD at
all costs.

The Best of Designing Women is pronounced guilty as charged, and will
be sentenced to wear those huge glasses, look at that big hair and the
bad make-up, and listen to some of their lame jokes for, oh, at least the next 7
years.